Close — Cosmographical Tractate in the Irish Language. 463 



mucli fewer Arabic words retained in the Irisli than in Gerard's Latin 

 translation. Indeed, the only Arabic word in the Irish translation 

 is al hotera, in Chapter 34, by Duodecimalis ; it is given quite 

 unnecessarily, as it is translated for us as the diameter. 



We shall conclude with Chapter 35, which treats of the Seven 

 Habitable Climates of the Earth ; it is by Duodecimalis. His scheme 

 of the Habitable Climates is a great improvement on that adopted and 

 given by Alfergani, the later contemporary of IMessahalah, which con- 

 tinued more or less in vogue, strange as it may seem to us, until after 

 ii.D. 1500. These climates were belts or zones of latitude beginning 

 at lat. 12^^ IN"., below which the Earth was supposed to be unin- 

 habitable from heat, and extending up to lat. 50^ ]Sr., above which 

 the Earth was supposed to be, on account of the cold, not habitable in 

 the full proper sense of the word. According to that scheme, Ireland 

 and Great Britain are not among the habitable countries of the earth ; 

 or at best they are only pravce liahitationis. It is strange that the 

 excellent Johannes de Sacrobosco did not perceive how, in accepting 

 this scheme, he was libelling his native countiy. But Duodecimalis, 

 with his more enlightened views, makes the first habitable climate to 

 begin at the equator, and the seventh or highest one to reach up to 

 where midsummer day is 18 hours long, that is to lat. 58|- N., or 

 nearly to the northern extremity of Scotland. But while making this 

 concession to us with one hand, he takes quite as much from us with 

 the other. L-eland, England, and nearly all Scotland are contained 

 within his sixth and seventh cUmates, the highest two. But he says of 

 the sixth, which reaches up to 54|-° IS"., about the latitude of Dun- 

 gannon, Lisburn. Whitehaven, and Whitby. " The people of this 

 region are weak of body, and of a bright colour, having sleek haii', 

 brutal and intractable." Those of the seventh climate, above the last- 

 mentioned latitude, " are unintelligent, hard to be instructed, weak of 

 understanding, having a memory like that of the brutes, weak in 

 body, and having fair, fine, yellow hair." 



These schemes of the Habitable Climates were di'awn up by people 

 living in more southern latitudes than ours. The short account of 

 the physiography is quite in keeping with that of the anthropology 

 of these climates. The character and conditions of each climate 

 are supposed to be the same throughout its whole extent in longi- 

 tude. 



Assuming that the mention of spectacles, above referred to, was in 

 Latin B, and not added by the Irish translator, Latin B was written 



E.I.A. PKOC, SEE. in., VOL. Vr. 2M 



